Reviews list for Neuropath - At Damnation's Core (2023)

I cannot lay any claim to being a source of much knowledge when it comes to death metal, having come to it quite late on. I turned away from metal during the nineties and was listening to hardly any, let alone the burgeoning death metal scene, at the time of the release of Neuropath's two demos in '95 and '96 that make up the contents of this compilation. Luckily for us all, we have the inside track on this release from the horse's mouth, so to speak, in the shape of Academy co-creator Daniel, lead guitarist and songwriter with the Sydney brutal DM pathfinders. From the CD liner notes and the interview with Hessian Firm, it is apparent that Daniel and vocalist Mark see the evolution between the earlier demo, Nefarious Vivisection, and the later, Desert of Excruciation, as a quantum leap in both technical and songwriting abilities. I certainly would not disagree with this assessment as the technical skills on show are obviously much improved and the songwriting has matured with an increased emphasis on technicality and complexity that is testament to the hard work and dedication that the guys put into the band during what amounts to just a few months between the recording of the two demos.

Now I don't know if Daniel and the rest of the band may consider this blasphemous, but I must sheepishly admit that I like the tracks from Nefarious Vivisection a bit more than the Desert of Excruciation material. I guess it has become apparent that I am a bit of a caveman when it comes to my taste in metal, the more technical, avant-garde, experimental stuff often leaves me cold and I would much rather have something relentlessly brutal and bludgeoning than any number of time-changes and finger-knotting guitar leads and to this end Nefarious Vivisection fills my criteria perfectly. The filthy-sounding riffs stick in my head better than the more complex stuff of the DoE tracks, Masticated Cadaver and the closer here, Rectal Palpitation, being the favourites that stick with me most. Then the clincher is the absolutely fucking brutal vocals supplied by Mark that are some of the best death metal vocals I have ever heard, rivalling Reifert, Vincent, Chuck and even Demilich's Antti Boman.

I really love digging through early metal demos and, sure, there are a lot of poorly-recorded shit out there, but sometimes you find a genuine pearl or two and I would suggest that is exactly what we have here, a rugged, uncut death metal diamond.

I find myself in a bit of an unusual position when it comes to this Australian brutal death metal band. Neuropath are absolutely a band that I would typically never give much attention to given its genre style. But this album is special as it is a collection of 1990s demos from Metal Academy's own Daniel. And I feel like I owe it to myself, Daniel, and the rest of the Metal Academy faithful to express, in some regards, my thoughts on a handful of the recordings that would eventually become the forum that we have here today.

One can immediately tell that At Damnation's Core is heavily inspired by the brutal death of the early 1990s, including Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. And that shines through almost instantly with the sporadic tempo changes. This is certainly a personal issue for me, but seems to run rampant (even today) within this subgenre of death metal so I'll let it slide. The other major issue that I have with this is the Cookie Monster vocals. Again, this type of death metal is littered with it (i.e. Cryptopsy's None So Vile), but it really diminishes the value of the words that are being said, no matter how inconsequential they might be.

But beyond these structural issues that persist throughout this style of music, turns out that At Damnation's Core has some solid fundamentals. This album has some deceptively tuneful songs on here and does not feel like those main melodic hooks/motifs are getting rushed out the door as quickly as possible in favour of a completely new motif. I thought that some of the solo inclusions were well thought out and were not simply tossed in to every single song on the record to show off the guitar players virtuosity. Many of the solos also sounded like they were meant to say something and compliment the rest of the instrumental and vocal parts, especially near the end of the album.

Overall, I thought that At Damnation's Core was a pretty solid album, even if I am not the target audience for this style of death metal. I have been playing around with brutal death metal recently and having picked up on some common trends throughout the music, I can comfortably say where I think this record does good things and where it doesn't. I believe that the runtime plays very well to its advantage since some of the more herky-jerky compositions do not get as long to marinate outside of the individual track's runtime. 

Best Songs: My Bleeding Mortality, Masticated Cadaver, Rectal Pulpation

As someone who prefers melodic/technical death metal and other metal genres, I don't really consider brutal death metal my thing in most cases. MOST. With that said, I like this album. This is killer brutal death metal right here! Neuropath recorded two demos in 1995 before disappearing into oblivion, though those who have been in this website for a long while would know Daniel's journey in the decades since the band's demise.

Although there were a few recent shout-outs to the band and their music here, it wasn't until this album compiling the two demos was released by Sphere of Apparition Records in late 2023 that their material would finally hit the stores. And how can a more extreme metalhead not like this pure brutal strength!? All of the band's members are talented, though the two who really deserve the spotlight in my honest opinion are Daniel with his massive guitar skills and Mark Wangmann with his vicious death growls. The new mastering by Bjorn is certainly a true enhancement to the production.

This whole compilation works well as a powerful extreme journey, so describing its songs won't do them justice, though I can mention the songs I enjoy the most in the usual favorites section below. I would love it slightly more if I loved brutal death metal more. Still this is a great well-done example of the genre, and I'm not just saying it to be nice. Mandatory for Horde members and death metal fans in general! Great support comes with true rewards....

Favorites: "My Bleeding Mortality", "Copulation of Insanity", "Vulgar Rebirth", "Rectal Pulpation"